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Taxi alternative Uber formally introduced in Jacksonville

Uber uses a smartphone app to link people wanting rides to drivers. The drivers get 80 percent of the fare, with Uber getting the rest. Provided by Uber Technologies

Provided by Uber Technologies The Uber smart phone app was introduced in Jacksonville Tuesday. The system hails personal drivers for users.

A smart phone application designed to link people to personal drivers was officially unveiled Tuesday as Uber Technologies Inc. formally introduced its service to the Jacksonville market, the first offering for any city in Florida.

Uber provides services for about 60 cities in the United States.

The service provides a free application for a smart phone that the user provides in their credit card or debit card number. Then, when a driver is summoned to pick up the user based on GPS locator coordinates, the user is billed at the end of the trip while the licensed driving service gets 80 percent of the revenue and Uber gets a 20 percent fee.

While the official press event and unveiling took place Tuesday, the service actually started in November in Jacksonville.

Rick Bryant, owner of Metro Executive Transportation of Jacksonville has partnered with Uber since it was first activated and said it was a smart business move.

“For my business, it’s the perfect complement,” said Bryant who left a taxi service in 2012 and started his own personal driver service. “It [Uber] exceeded my expectations.”

Bryant said he was the only driver for his personal transportation service when he first signed on with Uber. But in just three months since, he’s added two more vehicles with as many drivers and he plans to expand to five vehicles and drivers.

“I have a lot of time in between [calls],” Bryant said. “What Uber does, it allows me to generate business when I’m normally sitting in my car not getting any calls.”

At Moxie restaurant in the St. Johns Town Center, Uber officials held a news conference where they detailed the application which is similar to many mapping systems already in use. But the difference is that when the app is opened, it finds the closest personal driver and in Jacksonville the system initially focuses on limousine or personal drivers.

In some other cities, taxis and ride sharing drivers are also being used. The service is also offered in about 20 other countries.

Uber East Coast Regional Manager Rachel Holt said for Jacksonville, the company wanted initial business with higher end users.

“It connects you to sedans or limo drivers,” Holt said. “It’s a high-quality offering. All of these drivers are licensed limousine drivers and at the end of every trip, the passenger rates the driver. We have a lot of data and information very quickly on making sure that we keep high quality transportation drivers.”

Uber, started in 2010 in San Francisco, has run into some trouble.

According to an Associated Press report, a family in San Francisco filed a wrongful death suit this month against the company claiming one of its drivers caused the death of a 6-year old girl who was struck in a crosswalk New Year’s Eve.

The Associated Press reported Uber officials have said the driver was not working for Uber at the time of the accident.

Holt said she wouldn’t comment on the specifics of that lawsuit because it is in litigation. But she said the ride-share drivers are a different service from the Jacksonville offering, which features professional drivers.

“Once you become a big company, you’re going to have a target on your back,” Holt said. “What’s being offered in Jacksonville are fully commercially insured licensed transportation providers. The specific issue in San Francisco has to do with our ride-sharing service.”

The choice to start Florida operations in Jacksonville first is also linked to the unique geographic template found in the city here. The largest geographic city in the United States offers a unique laboratory, said Uber General Manager of Operations Kevin Valsi.

“Operationally, it is very challenging. But it’s also, on the same token, very rewarding to connect these neighborhoods,” Valsi said.